all-or-nothing

Thân thiện

The team adopted an all-or-nothing strategy for the final game.

Definition

Adjective: 1. Requiring complete commitment or success; absolute; not allowing partial or intermediate outcomes: Describes a situation, approach, or condition where the only acceptable results are total success or total failure, with no middle ground or compromise.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • He has an all-or-nothing attitude towards his goals. (He either commits fully or not at all.)
  • The negotiation was all-or-nothing; we couldn't agree on just part of the deal. (The negotiation required complete agreement on every point.)
  • This is an all-or-nothing gamble; we either win the contract or lose everything we invested. (The venture has only two possible outcomes: complete success or total loss.)

Advanced Usage

• In Psychology and Behavior: Often used to describe a cognitive distortion or a personality trait where a person thinks in absolute, black-and-white terms.
  • Her all-or-nothing thinking prevents her from seeing the partial successes in her progress.
• In Systems and Technology: Describes a mechanism or process that functions only when a specific, complete condition is met.
  • The safety switch is an all-or-nothing device; it either allows full power or cuts it off completely.

Variants and Related Words

• All-or-none (Adjective): A synonymous term frequently used in scientific contexts, such as physiology (e.g., neuron firing) or law.
  • The neuron's response is an all-or-none event.

Synonyms

• Absolute
• Uncompromising
• Unconditional
• Winner-take-all

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Go big or go home": An informal idiom expressing a similar sentiment of complete commitment or total withdrawal.
• "Sink or swim": An idiom describing a situation where one must succeed entirely or fail completely.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. occurring completely or not occurring at all

Từ đồng nghĩa

• all-or-none